Ban block schedules in Minnesota public high schools.

 

The purpose of this bill is to eliminate block scheduling in Minnesotan public high schools. Struggles like unfair

circumstances when it comes to AP testing and non-beneficial educational environments for students with learning

disabilities all contribute to the fact that block schedules are overall non-beneficial and should be outlawed.

 

There are multiple reasons why block schedules are overall harmful to schools. One belief that is shared among many

students and teachers is how classes taken year long are far more beneficial for students, as information from classes

is reaffirmed constantly, and students have access to specific teachers the whole year. It should be noted that the

majority of block schedule models eliminate year round classes, usually dividing students’ classes among semesters.

Next, students with learning disabilities such as ADHD may not be able to thrive in forms of block schedule the way they

could in traditional school schedules. This is due to the need for more consistent breaks, and shorter learning chunks.

In addition to students with special circumstances, high performing students who take many advanced placement or

international baccalaureate classes are at risk with block schedules as well. For one thing, AP tests are always at the

end of every school year, usually in May. In multiple forms of block schedules, students get restricted to have some,

most, or in some cases all of their AP classes for one half of the year. Either half has its cons. First semester AP

classes in a block schedule cover an incredible amount of material, but in order to prepare for the test in May,

students must put in study time throughout the second half of the year, with far less access to their first semester

teachers, and other, brand new classes to worry about. If students have multiple or all of their AP classes at the start

of the year, these struggles will be amplified. As for the second semester, due to the AP tests being in May, students

actually have less days of the class to prepare for the test.

In addition to academics, extracurriculars and students’ ability to put in their maximum effort into them can be

severely impacted if they have a certain activity going on at the same time as they’re taking multiple hard classes for

a specific half of the year.

Finally, due to block schedule class periods being twice as long as traditional ones, a student missing a class one day

in one semester is equivalent to missing two days out of a whole school year’s worth of learning.

 

Block Schedule: A school day divided into (usually) four 90 minute class periods, typically with the 8 total classes

being split up over the school year.

Public high schools: A school supported by public funds, as opposed to a private organization.

Traditional School Schedule: A school day that is divided into normally seven 45-50 minute periods.

ADHD: Short for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder-a condition that comes with varying levels that limits one’s

ability to sit still or keep attention on a subject for extended periods of time.

International baccalaureate Courses: More challenging versions of classes available in high school, which can add

together to create a diploma and college credit.

Extracurriculars: Activities outside of school that many students participate in, such as sports, arts, and others.

AP Testing: Advanced Placement courses in high schools have end of the year exams to determine whether a student will

get college credit for the course they took or not.

State Educational Funds: Financial resources provided by state governments to support public schools, typically

originating from taxes.

 

My bill doesn’t require funding.

 

If a school fails to change from block schedule, or picks any block schedule model for their school after this bill has

been put in place, there will be a withdrawal of state educational funds toward that specific institution. For the first

year of failed compliance, the amount will be $15,000. With each year under the same circumstances, another $1,000 will

be added to the withdrawal.

 

This bill will firmly take effect before the 2026-27 school year.